Ambassador explains what Ukraine does not accept in new grain deal

“The fact that we have created our own corridor (in the Black Sea - ed.) encourages our partners to build other routes. I would like to remind you that ships pass through the territorial waters of Romania, Bulgaria, and Türkiye, and now we are talking about creating a safer route,” Bodnar said.

He emphasized that the only thing that does not suit Ukraine is a return to the conditions that existed within the first grain corridor.

“There can be no control, no inspections of ships leaving Ukrainian ports. We will never agree to this,” he emphasized.

Bodnar also notes that these talks are part of the preparations for the Food Security Conference to be held in Türkiye in late August.

Grain deal

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russians began a blockade of Ukrainian ports. To solve this problem, Türkiye and the UN signed separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia on a grain corridor in the Black Sea.

The agreement was extended several times, but each time it expired, Russia stated that it would not continue to provide the grain corridor.

But in July of last year, Russia announced its withdrawal from the grain deal due to alleged non-compliance with its requirements. At the same time, the Russian troops began shelling Odesa, attacking the port and port infrastructure.

As of now, Ukraine has managed to secure a new humanitarian corridor for ships in the Black Sea. The movement of merchant ships to and from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea continues despite the shelling of port infrastructure by Russian troops.

However, Türkiye wants to restore the grain corridor. Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and announced that he had begun work to restore the grain deal.